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Korok
The Korok (コロク) or Vest Korok (ベストコロク) is a Japanese strut-folding plate camera. It was made from about 1914 by Rokuoh-sha, the manufacturing branch of Konishi (predecessor of Konica), and it exists in 5.5×8cm ( ) and 8×10.5cm ( ) size. Date: Kikuoka, p.32 of no.10, , item 1080, Lewis, p.35. It was the successor of the Minimum Idea. Name The Roman name "Korok" is found in an original catalogue by Konishiroku; the Japanese name was written either "Koroku kamera" (コロク、カメラ) or "Vesuto Koroku kamera" (ヴヱスト、コロク、カメラ). "Korok", "Koroku kamera": catalogue by Konishiroku reproduced in Yazawa, p.4 of no.259. "Vesuto Koroku kamera": advertisement reproduced in this page at the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website. In the 1920s or 1930s, the word "Vest" (Vesuto) would commonly designate 127 film in Japan (as in Minolta Vest); at the time of the Vest Korok, the prefix was simply used to bring to mind the Vest Pocket Kodak. The Japanese name "Koroku" was certainly formed after the company name Honten Konishi Rokuemon. (The name "Konishiroku" would later be constructed in a similar way.) The name, pronounced as "Korok", is also obviously made with "Kodak" in mind. Description The Korok is one of the first Japanese cameras to have a metal body. It is inspired by the Vest Pocket Kodak and has a pop-out rectangular front standard mounted on trellis struts. This front standard contains a single brilliant finder at the top, and in the middle a single-element meniscus lens and a simple shutter. Single-element lens: Yazawa, p.2 of no.259. The shutter release is placed behind the front standard, to the right of the brilliant finder. The speed settings are Time, Bulb and Instant, selected by an index above the lens; the T'', ''B, I'' indications are complemented by a caption in ''kanji characters: 定時 ("fixed time") for T and B, 瞬時 ("instant") for I. Detailed picture in Yazawa, p.3 of no.259. The words MANUFACTURED BY ROKUOH-SHA TOKYO. are inscribed around the lens. The aperture is set by an index at the bottom, with four positions indicated both by the numbers 1'', ''2, 3'', ''4 and by words in kanji script: 近き人物 and 曇天景色 ("close portrait" and "cloudy landscape") for "1", 晴天景色 ("fair-weather landscape") for "2", 遠景 ("distant landscape") for "3", 雪海景 ("snow or seascape") for "4". Detailed picture in Yazawa, p.3 of no.259. The rear part of the camera has no similarity with the Vest Pocket Kodak, and simply consists of a box with attachment rails for the ground glass or plate holders. Commercial life The camera was reportedly released in October 1914. Chronology of the official company history Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen, reproduced in Tanaka, p.94 of no.10. In a March 1916 catalogue by Konishi Honten, the camera is called "Korok Camera" (コロク、カメラ, Koroku Kamera) in katakana writing and "Korok Hand Camera" in Roman writing. Catalogue by Konishi Honten dated 15 March 1916, reproduced in Tanaka, p.92 of no.10, and in Yazawa, p.4 of no.259 (the reproduction is more readable in Yazawa). It is presented as a new model (最新型), evolved from the Minimum Idea through various improvements. The format is mentioned as (名刺) size, given in older units as 1 sun 8 bu (一寸八分) width and 2 sun 7 bu (二寸七分) height; this translates as 5.5×8.2cm, commonly rounded to 5.5×8cm. The dimensions of the camera are given as 10.3×7.3×3.3cm, and its weight as 263g. This is given in old units: 3 sun 4 bu length, 2 sun 4 bu width, 1 sun 1 bu depth, 70 monme weight. The camera was supplied with six single-sided plate holders in a choice of two sets: set A (A號) with a cloth wallet, at , and set B (B號) with a leather case, at . The advertisement for the Korok reproduced here at the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website is an abridged version of the catalogue contents, and the main text is exactly the same. However the title differs and reads "Vest Korok Camera" (ヴヱスト、コロク、カメラ, Vesuto Koroku Kamera). The chronological list of the official company history Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen published in 1973 has a Sketch (スケッチ) -size camera released in September 1914, one month before the Korok. Chronological list reproduced in Tanaka, p.94 of no.10. A picture of this camera is shown elsewhere in the same book, but it seems indistinguishable from the Korok. Extract of Shashin to tomo ni hyaku-nen reproduced in Tanaka, p.93 of no.10. For some reason, Kikuoka reports that the Sketch was made of wood and has no B setting. Kikuoka, p.32 of no.10. However these features are perhaps mistaken, and "Sketch" was perhaps the original name of the Korok. A -size (8×10.5cm) version of the Korok is also reported in Kikuoka, but this is unconfirmed. Kikuoka, p.32 of no.10. Surviving example It seems that the surviving example pictured in the various sources is one and the same. Example pictured in , item 1080, in Yazawa, pp.1–3 and cover pages of no.259, in Kikuoka, p.32 of no.10, in Lewis, p.35, and in this page of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology. The camera is said to belong to M. Morihara in the three first sources, and the picture is the same in the last three. Its format is quoted as 6.5×9cm or in some sources, and as 57×83mm or in others; the latter seems more plausible. Format quoted as 6.5×9cm in , item 1080, and as in Kikuoka, p.32 of no.10. — Format quoted as 57×83mm in Lewis, p.35, and in this page of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology, and as (50×77mm actual picture size) in Yazawa, p.2 of no.259. The most detailed account of the camera is found in Yazawa, who seems to have examined the example at first hand instead of merely via pictures. Some pictures shows the full set, complete with original buck-skin wallets for the camera and for the six plate holders. , item 1080; Sakai, p.10 of no.10. Notes Bibliography * Kikuoka Sei (菊岡清). "Konica history 3. Meiji 41-nen – Taishō 12-nen." (Konica history 3. 明治41年–大正12年. From Meiji year 41 (1908) to Taishō year 12 (1923).) Pp.24–32. * P.35. * Sakai Shūichi (酒井修一). "'Anbako' kara 'ōtofōkasu' he: kamera no hensen to tomo ni ayunda 114-nen" (「暗函」から「オートフォーカス」へ・カメラの変遷と共に歩んだ114年, From 'camera obscura' to 'autofocus': 114 years of camera evolution). Pp.8–13. * Item 1080. * Tanaka Yoshirō (田中芳郎). "Meiji–Taishō jidai no Konishi Honten no kamera wo shiru tame no hon" (明治・大正時代の小西本店のカメラを知るための本, Books about the Konishi Honten cameras of the Meiji and Taishō eras). Pp.92–4. * Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (169) Koroku kamera" (レンズの話169コロク・カメラ, Lens story 169 Korok camera). In no.259 (January 1999). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Links In Japanese: * Korok in the Camera database of the Center of the History of Japanese Industrial Technology * Pages of the R. Konishi Rokuoh-sha website: ** Advertisement for the Korok, and enlargement of the drawing ** Korok in the camera list Category: Japanese 6.5x9 folding Category: Japanese 8x10.5 folding Category: Strut folding Category: K Category: 1911-1914